Ever wanted to immerse yourself in Romani culture and find out what goes on behind the doors of these often overlooked and stigmatised communities?
*Roma village experience from 15m08s*
In our latest video we say our goodbyes in Hungary after an incredible time visiting Budapest, the capital city and Hortobagy National park where we stayed with a local Horseman and his wife. Before we leave, we delve in to an abandoned military barracks and try to reach the tower, but once inside, we find we aren’t alone.
As we leave Hungary, the border station decide they aren’t happy with our friends Canadian passport, and they hold us for investigation. Will ever leave?! Spoiler, yes we will. As we enter Romania, our memories of this beautifully crazy country come flooding back. We make a brief stopover in Cluj Napoca, the capital of the Transylvanian region of Romania.
As we enter the second half of the travelogue, we arrive at an old friends house. Tibi is from the Romani community in Romania, a separate ethnic group thought to originate from the Punjab region of India over 3000 years ago.
He warmly invites us in to his home where we eat a feast of traditional foods, before cranking the music up and introducing us to Romani music and dance. We explore the village, meet the locals, hear stories, learn traditional basket weaving from one of the villages oldest weavers and drink plenty of Rakia!
Join us as we experience authentic Roma life, from a completely honest viewpoint. Witness the effects social stigma plays in modern life for Romani people, and the warmth and hospitality the villagers display, despite the obvious language and social barriers.
If you’d like to know more about Romani life and would yourself like to visit the village of Serbia or Romani villages across Romania, please contact us for details.
We hope you enjoy and as usual, let us know what you think in the comments.
⤖ Follow our travels ⬻
Website –
Instagram –
Facebook –
Tumblr –
⤖ Our Kit ⬻
DJI Ronin S:
DJI Phantom 4 Pro+ :
Canon 6D:
Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8l IS USM lens:
Canon 50mm F1.8 SAF lens:
Sigma 24-70mm DG HSM lens:
Sony RX100 M5:
SanDisk Extreme Pro:
Hoya polarising filter:
Huwaei external battery:
Making a purchase through these links will help us to keep making videos by giving us a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
Tracks used & licenses:
‘No Time’ : Music by Liam Thomas
‘Gypsy Dance’ : Music by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena
‘Suspense Music – Post-apocalyptic’ : Music by CO.AG Music
‘Longing’ : Music by Loop Faction
‘Classic Romanian Music’ : Music by Bartok
I do not own the rights to the occasional non-descript background songs. No copyright infringement is intended.
A little about us…
We’re Lucy and Ben, two photographers from Cornwall, UK who’ve been living and travelling in our self-converted LDV Convoy camper van for the best part of four years. We’ve travelled all across Europe from West to East documenting our encounters with the people we meet as well as our own travels and adventures. We embrace the ethos of slow travel and minimal living, generally spending between 2 and 8 weeks in each country, getting to know each culture, cuisine and people as though we were locals ourselves as well as hiking, wild swimming and camping as we go.
We are currently on our third 7 month long road trip, travelling through the Balkans for the second time beginning in the French Alps and venturing as far East as Turkey, visiting 13 countries in between.
Our plan was simple: visit every country in Europe in our rusty tin can of a van. So far we’ve made it to 28 countries, travelling as far West as Portugal and as far East as Ukraine, having all sorts of crazy adventures in between.
Our main motivation for our travels is to capture photos and create documentary projects, so our van is primarily a vessel for our photography. We tend to focus on topics such as nomadism, traditional ways of life, the effects of recent political events and the difficulties of living in remote rural areas as well as documenting our own adventures and lifestyle on our various social channels.
#roma #romani #romania #gypsy #vanlife #travel